David Brewster

Sir David Brewster KH PRSE FRS FSA Scot FSSA MICE was a Scottish scientist, inventor, author, and academic administrator. In science he is principally remembered for his experimental work in physical optics, mostly concerned with the study of the polarization of light and including the discovery of Brewster's angle. He studied the birefringence of crystals under compression and discovered photoelasticity, thereby creating the field of optical mineralogy. For this work, William Whewell dubbed him the "father of modern experimental optics" and "the Johannes Kepler of optics."

11 December 1781

Born on the same birth day (11 December): Anna Carteret • Carl Friedrich Zelter • Christina Onassis • Colleen Hoover • Donna Mills • Eberhard I, Duke of Württemberg • Frank Tarrant • Gerd Arntz • Javier Saviola • Jon Garrison • Lynda Day George • Mark Streit • McCoy Tyner • Michael Lang (producer) • Pranab Mukherjee • Qian Xuesen • Rebekkah Brunson • Ronald Skirth • Roy Wood Jr. • Subramania Bharati • Webster Paulson • Yasiin Bey